


The Road Leading Up

by Onlymostydead



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Blood, Child Abuse, Fighting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-03 21:19:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,542
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19472419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Onlymostydead/pseuds/Onlymostydead
Summary: From when they were picked as ten year old Initiates, Link has always seemed like the one on his way to greatness. Revali, well... He's the kid dragging his heels.But six years later, that can all change, and Link finds he may not want to be the one on his way up.





	The Road Leading Up

**Author's Note:**

> Didn't feel like this should be a trigger warning tag, but there's mild sexualization of minors - I myself am a minor, as are all characters in the story, no one's being a creep in that respect, at least.
> 
> This was written as a pronpt on tumblr where someone (Thank you Swift!!) sends you a fic title and you say what you would write for it... But I just decided to write it.

Around and around the ring, Revali and Link circled each other.

Link knew they would end up here, eventually. They had been pit against each other in the ring since they were just ten year old Initiates, forced to fight until one of them was deemed a winner, on and on until...

Well, until now.

***

He always won, back then, when they were kids. Revali was a small boy with frail bones who cried easily when he got hurt. Mottled bruises would always show up yellow and green and purple on his dark skin the next day, testaments to his failures. He spoke in big words, flowery language, like he was already an adult, more interested in sounding and looking pretty than the fights. And Link...

Link was the opposite. Every time, back then, he would be praised for his actions. He knew what the Officials wanted, and he gave it to them. When they taught him techniques, he learned them, and applied them. He was their golden child. Simple. Wordless. Pliable.

He earned the name Knight in the ring at the age of fourteen, when they were truly initiated. When they became real Competitors.

And Revali... He earned the name Bird.

Fragile.

Small.

Delicate.

It fit him well, everyone joked.

He would rather fly away than fight, back then. His singing voice was far more impressive than how he could throw a punch. And for a while, that meant he and Link didn't fight. They were in different classes altogether: the winners, and the losers.

But that was the most dangerous time of all.

Because time off was time spent thinking.

Because time spent thinking led to wandering eyes in the living quarters. They would be ending up finding something, even if it wasn't what they were originally looking for.

Because delicate was just another way to say pretty, and Link couldn't keep his eyes off Revali. His hair, died bright blue as an attempt to add something special to his act, to make himself more entertaining. It was pulled back into four tight braids when he fought, long and crisp. His face all painted for the ring in yellows and reds, like a warrior bird, channeling the fierceness in his electric green eyes.

But after the paint came off... His brows were thick and strong over his seemingly softer eyes, usually brought down into a scowl. His nose was large, with a strong bridge and a gentle curve downward. And his lips... They were thin, but their sculpted shape, perfect cupid's bow, the little smirk when he taunted someone... They were perfect. Then when his hair came down was heaven. It was long and soft, falling in loose curls and waves all the way to his mid back. It was romantic, the way he brushed it out at night, with just a lamp illuminating him, only wearing a large white tee shirt...

From when they graduated the initiate stage at fourteen to now, two years later, Link had fallen. Hard.

And he wasn't the only one.

Because he had noticed the long looks in the showers. He had noticed the way Revali's touch always lingered on him whenever they came in contact, the tension between them when they sparred.

How close they came to kissing so many times.

But that was strictly prohibited. Competitors weren't allowed to form romantic bonds with other Competitors - it was only recently that they were allowed to form romance with Fans.

But Link's heart already belonged to Revali. He knew that. And there was nothing he could do about that. And Revali...  
It was inevitable that they would meet in the ring, eventually. Revali wasn't a weak kid, anymore. Bird was yet another Fan favorite. He wasn't a loser, by any means. His body still looked delicate, yeah, but he was strong.

Ruthless.

Brutal.

A Champion, perhaps?

Revali had what it took to take the Champion title, at the end of the tournament, but, to do that...

Link knew what he would have to do. 

And worse, he knew that the Officials knew about their feelings for each other. They had seen, they had to know. And because they knew, because they knew that they had that attraction, that bond...

They were going to have to tear them apart again.

Because that's what they did. They stole their ten year old kids to be Initiates, they trained them to be brutal, to be heartless, they rewarded them for hurting others, then pitted them against each other all in the name of good entertainment for the Fans.

And at first, Link had been on board. Knight was a Fan favorite. They loved him. He fought, saying no words, not playing dirty but hitting hard. The Fans loved him. The Officers rewarded him. He was on that road Up - Up to the top where the Champions go, to the Glory Days and the fantasy rings where the only fights are staged ones between old favorites who don't throw real punches anymore. Who don't remember the crying kids with small shoulders and yellow green and purple bruises crying on the floor, who just want to sing. Who don't want to be here. Who don't want to hurt anyone.

Link was on track. Well, not anymore.

If he was slated to fight Revali, he wouldn't win. He would fight him, sure, but... It wasn't worth that. He didn't want to go to the top. To be stuck in the public eye. To forever be afraid of what they might say or what they might do to him.

But Revali? When you put a spotlight on him he came alive. That's what he deserved: Fans to adore him and fortune to provide security for the rest of his life.

But to give that to him, they would have to meet in the ring.

They would have to fight, and it would have to be good.

And they couldn't go away together; he would have to say goodbye.

Because no matter what, no matter how the rules are, no matter what they did, Competitors are still not allowed to have romance between themselves. And so...

And so...

Link swallowed, looking at himself in the mirror. He would have to fight Revali. And this time, he would lose.  
***

The lights were on as they circled each other, crowd cheering, and jeering, for both sides. Revali was grinning like a madman, his long hair done in braids that flicked around his shoulders when he turned his head, doing body signs for the crowd, making them go wild.

Link was smooth in his movements, studying him for the best moment to strike. This had to be a good fight. It was just like sparring, in a way, but... He couldn't go easy. Not in the slightest.

This had to be good.

In a quick move he darted in to punch Revali in the nose-

And immediately got kicked in the stomach. Link doubled over, tears coming to his eyes. He forgot that Revali used his legs like that in actual fights; he rarely did that in practice.  
But now the first blows were out of the way. Here, the real fight begun.

Blow after blow they landed on each other, causing pain, causing injury, all of the moves legal and devestatingly so. Revali had a bloody nose that was dripping all over the mat, smearing with his yellow and red paint. Link was hit in the sternum hard enough that he still couldn't quite catch his breath. Revali had a broken finger. Link had three broken toes, at least.

It was neck and neck, and the Officials were still giving them the green. Everything was legal, and they were making a good show of it. Neither of them were slacking off.

Then again, neither of them ever did slack off. Revali didn't believe in the whole thing, as a kid, and that's why he didn't fight. And now...

Now Link doesn't either. But something told him Revali wasn't fighting like he was, right now. There was a desperation. A twitching movement, something else entirely. He was fighting to move on. To make his way up to the top. And if Link just ended up being his way up there... So be it.

And he was okay with that.

He was okay with just being the road leading up.

Pass after pass, strike after strike, both of them getting close to falling apart, but-

Revali grabbed Link, pushing him down and pinning him to the ground, sitting on his chest, pinning his arms above his head with one hand.  
It was so sudden he had no time to respond. The Officials were still flashing green cards and he was expecting a fist to the face, but-

"I'm sorry it has to end like this, Link." Revali whispered, quiet enough the cameras couldn't hear. "In another life, maybe?"

Link nodded.

Time seemed to slow down.

Revali's lips seemed to come out of nowhere, bloody nose dripping all over Link as they kissed, but that was the last thing in his mind.

All the cameras saw.

He couldn't move up with that... Could he?

Then Revali pulled away and the fist came down, knocking him out cold.

**Author's Note:**

> Oneshot requests (they might end up short, just a warning!) are open!
> 
> Tumblr is Supertinywords/Supertinydom, feel free to holler at me there
> 
> Comments are love <3


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